Door lock openings associated with transportation vehicles, e.g., automobiles, trucks, vans and the like, very often include a recess or offset in the body work of the vehicle so that the lock itself, when it is in place, is substantially flush with the exterior of the vehicle body.
Vehicle theft is quite common. One way of breaking into the vehicle is to remove the door lock. In the process of removing the lock, the door lock opening is usually damaged. When the vehicle is recovered, this damage must be repaired for appearance sake and so that the door lock may be made operable. For example, one repair approach involves replacing all or a portion of the damaged door panel with a new undamaged panel. Also, the damage can be repaired by pounding the door lock opening back into shape using a hammer or similar device. In situations where the door opening is substantially flush with the exterior of the vehicle, the damaged opening has been "squeezed" back into shape between two flat washers using a nut and bolt assembly. It would be advantageous to provide a new approach to repairing damaged vehicle door lock openings, particularly such openings which are recessed relative to the exterior of the vehicle.
In preparing this application, the following U.S. Pat. Nos. were considered: 1,367,818; 1,420,064; 1,911,614; 2,509,330; 2,791,186; 4,235,090; and 4,495,687.